Mediwhale Secures $9M Series A for AI-based Retinal Scanning Technology

South Korean healthcare startup Mediwhale has secured $9 million in Series A funding to advance its innovative AI-powered retina scanning technology. Co-founded by Kevin Choi and vitreoretinal surgeon Dr. Tyler Rim, the company develops non-invasive retina scans for early diagnosis of various diseases, such as cardiac and kidney disorders. Mediwhale's primary product, Reti-CVD, focuses on assessing the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients, enabling early intervention and treatment.

Choi's inspiration for the company stemmed from a personal experience of losing vision in nearly half of one of his eyes due to undiagnosed glaucoma at the age of 24. There were no early symptoms, leading Choi to believe that if his condition had been detected and treated early, it could have saved his vision. This led to the founding of Mediwhale in 2016. The startup is headquartered in Seoul, with plans to expand to the US after initial testing and trials in South Korea.

Reti-CVD provides CVD risk assessment results in under a minute, offering a practical alternative to traditional computerized cardiac tomography (CT) scans. While CT scans can predict CVD risk accurately, they have downsides, such as high-dose radiation exposure, high costs, and long waiting times for results. In comparison, Reti-CVD's non-invasive approach matches the precision of cardiac CT scanning for CVD risk assessment, without radiation exposure or dedicated testing facilities. This makes Reti-CVD more accessible and suitable for primary care settings.

Mediwhale's primary target group includes patients who may develop CVD in the future, such as those with diabetes or metabolic diseases. The recent Series A funding round was led by SBI Investment, with participation from new investor Woori Venture Partners and existing investors BNK Venture Capital, Innopolis Partners, and IPS Ventures. The funds raised will help Mediwhale accelerate the commercialization of Reti-CVD and obtain US FDA clearance and insurance coverage, aiming for final FDA approval by 2024.

Last week, the Korean national insurance government granted Reti-CVD a temporary reimbursement code for two years, which means health insurance will cover its use by doctors in primary care and hospitals across South Korea. Mediwhale will need to submit additional clinical data to secure a permanent code after the two-year period. The company plans to launch Reti-CVD in South Korea this summer.

Mediwhale is not the only player in the AI-powered medical diagnostics field. Alphabet subsidiary Verily raised $1 billion in 2022 to expand its data-driven healthcare products, while Digital Diagnostics, previously known as IDx, secured $75 million in Series B funding led by KKR for its AI diagnostic solutions. In the competitive field of AI-driven healthcare, no-code platforms like AppMaster can accelerate the development and deployment of innovative solutions, streamlining applications' backend, web, and mobile components.